A former supervisor of the Marine Corps brig that housed an Army private charged with sending U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks website denied Wednesday that he was making light of Pfc. Bradley Manning's homosexuality when he referred to the soldier's underwear as 'panties' in a staff memo.

Marine Corps Master Sgt. Brian Papakie testified as a prosecution witness on the seventh day of a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade, near Baltimore.

The hearing is to determine whether the nine months Manning spent in Marine Corps custody in Quantico, Virginia, amounts to illegal pretrial punishment, and whether his case should be dismissed as a result.

His turn on the stand: Bradley Manning seen arriving at a courthouse at military base Fort Meade, Maryland before testifying about the treatment he received during his two-years in prison

Accused: Bradley Manning, 24, is blamed for the largest leak of state secrets in American history

The military contends Manning had to
be confined to his cell at least 23 hours a day, sometimes without
clothing, to prevent him from hurting or killing himself during his
confinement from July 2010 to April 2011.

Papakie testified on
cross-examination about a memo he wrote after the brig commander ordered
Manning stripped of his underwear each night starting March 2, 2011.
Manning stood naked at attention for a prisoner count the next morning,
causing a stir that prompted Papakie to write an email to ensure it
didn't happen again.

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'Make sure he is not standing at
attention naked for evening count right before taps. You should be
taking his panties right before he lays down,' Papakie wrote.

Under questioning by defense attorney
David Coombs, Papakie said he uses the word interchangeably with
'skivvies' and 'underwear' when discussing men's undershorts.

'I've always used the phrase, `Don't get my panties in a bunch,' which is what I tell the staff all the time,' he said.

In cuffs: Wikileaks suspect Bradley Manning, centre, is escorted from his hearing in Fort Meade, Maryland

Papakie acknowledged that he knew
Manning was gay but said he didn't consider the word 'panties'
homophobic. He conceded that it was not professional to use the term in a
memo.

Papakie followed another witness,
Marine Corps Master Sgt. Craig Blenis, who testified Sunday that
Manning's sexual orientation was among the factors that led him to
recommend Manning remain on injury-prevention status despite two
psychiatrists' repeated recommendations that his conditions be eased.

Blenis referred to a letter Manning
had signed 'Breanna Manning,' an alias he had used on occasion. The
defense revealed at a hearing last year that Manning had written to a
supervisor in Baghdad before his arrest, saying he suffered from
gender-identity disorder.

He included a picture of himself
dressed as a woman and talked about how it was affecting his ability to
do his job and think clearly.

A former brig counselor, Blenis said the letter was a 'red flag' for potential self-injury.

Turning the guns: The young soldier's lawyer immediately turned fire against the investigating officer - claiming the proceedings were biased against Manning

Defence: In this courtroom sketch, Bradley Manning, second from left, sits as his attorney, David E. Coombs, demands that the investigating officer, Lt Colonel Paul Almanza, recuse himself from the case

He said he considered it along with
Manning's acknowledged history of suicidal thoughts shortly after his
arrest, and his odd behavior at Quantico such as dancing alone in his
cell and licking the cell bars during what the defense has characterized
as a sleepwalking episode.

'When you add that on top of a few
other things we've talked about, it just shows he's not stable,' Blenis
said. 'It's a cause for concern.'

Manning was arrested in May 2010, before the military lifted a ban on homosexuals serving openly in the armed services.

Manning's lawyers must show that his
treatment at Quantico was either intentional punishment or so egregious
that it was tantamount to punishment.

The government has the burden of
proving by preponderance of the evidence that it had a legitimate
purpose in imposing the restrictions.

Whistleblower: Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, leaves the High Court after winning the right to petition the UK Supreme Court to review his extradition to Sweden on December 5

The judge, Col. Denise Lind, could
dismiss all charges if she finds for the defense but military legal
experts say that's unlikely. A more common remedy is extra credit at
sentencing for time served. Manning's lawyers have asked for 10-for-1
credit if the judge refuses to dismiss the case.

Manning's treatment drew
international attention and was condemned by his supporters, who
consider him a heroic whistleblower. United Nations torture investigator
Juan E. Mendez called Manning's treatment 'cruel, inhuman and
degrading.'

The 24-year-old is charged with 22 offenses, including aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

He's accused of leaking hundreds of
thousands of classified Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and more than
250,000 diplomatic cables while working as an intelligence analyst in
Baghdad in 2009 and 2010.

He's also charged with leaking a 2007
video clip of a U.S. helicopter crew gunning down 11 men later found to
have included a Reuters news photographer and his driver.

The Pentagon concluded the troops acted appropriately, having mistaken the camera equipment for weapons.